Day 2 - Roma Awaits

Today was our first full day in Italy (still in Rome) and it was just as good as yesterday despite a rain storm this afternoon. We started our day around 9 with some fruit we bought from a street vendor last night (don't worry mom: I took my allergy pill this morning and didn't have any reaction to the banana). We headed over to the train station and bought bus tickets out to see the Catacombs. The bus ride was fairly uneventful with one hiccup consisting of us getting off at the wrong stop only to catch the same bus number 2 minutes later to continue on the correct path. One transfer at Piazza San Giovanni later and we arrived in no time.

The Catacomb tour was great and totally worth the 8 Euro per person (pp). The Catacombs were the first Christian burial site in Rome (c. 50 A.D.) and go about 30 meters/4 stories (our best guess) below ground. The area is maintained at 15 degrees Celcius year-round and housed something like >100,000 bodies at some point including a handful of popes. The hardened volcanic rock felt great under the Vibrams. :)

After the Catacombs, we took a bus back to Piazza San Giovanni. We met a couple from Nebraska at the bus stop who informed us that we really weren't that far from the Colloseum so we decided to forgo the bus transfer and head out that way. A couple of blocks from the Colloseum, we stopped for some lunch. Lenny and I both went for a pizza boscaiollo (with sausage and mushrooms on it) as well as some of the most delicious caffe lattes that have ever touched our lips. As we neared the Colloseum the Heaven's opened and we started what would be a very wet afternoon.

The Colloseum was great. We didn't visit inside because we think we're doing that tomorrow with our tour group, but the massive four-storey structure outside was pretty amazing. Each storey has its own unique design and must have been one Extremely fascinating structure to build, in 8 years, in 72-80 A.D.. We slso learned that they had a cloth covering that would have covered the entire top, much like the Skydome. How cool is that?! There were many actors dressed in Centurian guard costumes that would allow you to take your picture with them for a fee. We didn't do this, but it was still neat.

Very close to the Colloseum is the Roman Forum which is where we headed next. The Forum is largely all ruins and without a guide, guide book, or any extensive signage, wasn't all that interesting. Again it's something we'll visit tomorrow on our guided tour, so more to come on that.

After the Roman Forum we headed up to the Trevi Fountain. This was VERY busy with people but we were still able to get pretty close and admired the beauty of the architecture for quite some time. It is amazing how lifelike the statues seemed and how peaceful the area was because of the water despite all of the congestion.

On our way to the Spanish Steps we decided to take a break from the rain and partake in our first gelato experience for the trip. We kind of chose the wrong spot in that the gelato came to 15 Euro for only 2 scoops each, but it was really tasty and provided us a much needed break from the rain. As a side note, I tried to go to the washroom in the restaurant only to discover that it was a squattie potty (no seat)... I didn't really have to go so I did not attempt it and decided to just wash my hands but had the darndest time trying to figure out how to get the tap to turn on. Turns out that foot pedals were the trick with a quick lesson from Lenny. Ah adventures in a different place :)

Ok, so after the gelato and bathroom fun, we headed up to the Spanish Steps. I still haven't quite been able to grasp why people find these so exciting, but the top of the 6-ish stories of stairs do give quite the amazing view of Rome. At the top of the stairs while we were taking pictures, a guy came over and gave me 3 of his 2 dozen roses saying “I love you, I love you!” Which I thought was really odd. We protested/said “no no” quite a few times, but he insisted I kept them and then walked away. At this point I noticed that while the flowers themselves were in great shape, the stems were moldy! He came back as I was pointing this out to Len and asked him for some change. Ha! After we'd already said no like a thousand times. Anyhoo, it ended with me insisting that the man take back his moldy flowers. Him not understanding our Italian/English didn't help the situation much, however, it was still a funny experience. FYI we were also not pick-pocketed at this time ;)

Well that's pretty much all for now. Lenny is having a nap and I'm writing a multitude of post cards for the fam. We should be able to find some Internet tonight after dinner so with any luck you'll be seeing some pictures soon.